Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo
Review by Lesley Finlay Published by HarperCollins
Hailed as the mighty Michael Morpurgo’s ‘new WW1 masterpiece’ Listen to the Moon is much more than that. It is a wonderful story, rooted in the terrible human tragedy of the sinking of the passenger ship the Lusitania and exploring the complexities of human nature in all their glory – and shame.
It is May 1915; Alfie and his father are fishing folk from the Scilly Isles and discover on an uninhabited island an injured girl. They take her home and despite the warm care of this family led by the no-nonsense matriarch Mary, the girl does not speak, but seems to understand what is said. Clues that link her as a German – the blanket with Wilhelm sewn on it, the love of Mozart’s music – soon have an effect on the small community during a war waged partly through propaganda.
Morpurgo’s writing draws us in: Alfie is a boy like all – preferring not to go to school, getting into scrapes, and through his eyes, we watch as the true story of the traumatised ‘Lucy Lost’ is gradually revealed.
Through multiple voices – Lucy herself, Dr Crow and the schoolmaster Mr Beagley’s school log – Morpurgo demonstrates that what it is to be human is not black and white, but many shades of often uncomfortable grey. This is the story of an outsider’s effect on a close-knit community; how the terrible tentacles of war reached into every corner of the country. But it is also a story of love, hope and survival; it is wonderful.
Listen to the Moon, which is published on September 25, is a wonderful book that is sure to become a classic; and bring some understanding of the human cost of the Great War as we mark its centenary.